Last Second Heroics and Historic Wins Highlight PIAA Basketball Playoffs Across Pennsylvania

Souderton senior guard Marques Brown gave the Indians, the fourth-place team out of District 1, something to remember in the PIAA boys basketball state playoffs on Saturday. He knocked down a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to propel the Indians past Archbishop Wood.

Souderton won 68-66.

Brown finished with 25 points and made seven 3-pointers. This was Souderton's second-ever win in the state playoffs and its first since 2008.

Allderdice Snaps Long Streak

The Allderdice girls basketball halted a streak of 18 consecutive losses in the PIAA playoffs that dated back to 1986. The Dragons knocked off Upper St. Clair 47-43 in a PIAA Class 6A playoff game last Friday at home.

Bailey White led Allderdice with 21 points, while coach Ellen Guillard collected her 150th win. The Dragons will take on WPIAL championship Canon-McMillan, the team that knocked them out last season, in the next round.

The Big Macs advanced to the second round by surviving a matchup with Governor Mifflin, the eighth place team out of District 3, 48-46.

Chambersburg Grabs Win

The Trojans had a difficult challenge to open the PIAA Class 6A playoffs. Chambersburg had to figure out how to slow down Colton Hiller, the No. 3 recruit in the Class of 2028, and deal with what else Coatesville had to offer.

Hiller scored 24 points, 15 of which came after halftime, but the Trojans were prepared to play well on the road. Garyson Kegerreis finished with 19 points and made four 3-pointers to help Chambersburg collect a 57-49 road win.

Cocalico Finds Its Legs After Four-Hour Bus Ride

The Eagles had a 498-mile round trip to take on Hampton for the the first round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs. It proved to be no issue for Cocalico. Timmy Hambright scored 28 points to help the Eagles score a 61-58 road win.

It was Cocalico's first state playoff win in 42 years.

Port Allegany Gets in the Win Column

The Gators' boys basketball team rallied from 14 points down to sting Bishop McCort Saturday in Johnstown. Port Allegany was led by Isac Amell, who finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in a Class 2A contest.

The Gators will have a difficult challenge Wednesday when they try to topple WPIAL champion Sewickley Academy, which has a lineup that features a lot of height.

2,000-Point Scorers Set to Collide

The second round of the PIAA Class 3A girls basketball playoffs will feature a battle between 2,000 points scorers. Northwestern's Makayla Presser-Palmer will meet Greensburg Central Catholic's Erica Gribble Tuesday night at Sharon High School.

The Centurions advanced to the second round by beating Cranberry, 66-14. The Wildcats beat Quaker Valley, 35-22.

Pressser-Palmer is District 10's all-time leading scorer and has 2,317 career points. Presser-Palmer, an Arizona recruit, will be up against a Division I recruit for the second consecutive round.

Northwestern had to contend with Quakers' star Mimi Thiero, a Kentucky commit, during the first round.

Gribble, a Richmond recruit, has 2,317 career points.

Plymouth Whitemarsh Stops Losing Streak

Mani Sajid scored 25 points to help Plymouth Whitemarsh knock Cedar Cliff out of the first round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.

The Colonials had lost five consecutive state playoff games dating back to 2018. Two of those defeats came on their home floor.

One Tough Section

Deer Lakes, North Catholic and Knoch advanced to the second round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. The Knights and Trojans were expected to move on.

Knoch and North Catholic split their regular season meetings and shared the WPIAL's Section 1-4A crown. The Knights, who are 23-4 and won their first-ever WPIAL crown this season, beat Girard in front of a sold-out crowd,

North Catholic (20-6) played a difficult regular season schedule and flexed its muscles against Sharon in the first round of states.

The Lancers (13-14) shook off adversity down the stretch to put themselves in position to get hot during the playoffs. Deer Lakes, which lost four of its last five games to end the regular season, earned the third seed out of the WPIAL.

The Lancers knocked off District 6 champion Huntingdon to reach the second round and set up a meeting with Huntingdon, which was the third-place finisher in District 10.

Knoch and North Catholic will have to battle each other to determine a spot in the quarterfinals. The Knights beat the Trojans by 24 points in the WPIAL semifinals.

--Josh Rizzo |rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo